President Bush was justifiably upset. A cyclone four days earlier had destroyed a large portion of Myanmar, and the country's military junta was still refusing humanitarian aid. "Let the United States come to help you, help the people," Bush pleaded with the junta. "We're prepared to move U.S. Navy assets to help find those who've lost their lives, to help find the missing, to help stabilize the situation," said the President, "but in order to do so, the military junta must allow our disaster assessment teams into the country."

With more than 20,000 dead, possibly 40,000 missing, and close to one million homeless, the junta made it clear that it, not the international community, would provide whatever humanitarian aid was necessary.

A week before the cyclone hit, President Bush extended sanctions against Myanmar by another year because of what he called that junta's "large-scale repression of the democratic opposition." Paranoid about anything that could threaten its power, the junta was frightened that the United States would use the cyclone as a reason to invade the country.

The junta's response the first week of May was little different than the international concern almost three years earlier. It wasn't the destruction of villages and the rice farming industry, but the destruction of cities and the shrimp industry. It wasn't a cyclone named Nargis, but a hurricane named Katrina.

It's been well documented that the Bush–Cheney Administration,
with its head in Iraq, wasn't prepared for a natural disaster. Like the
leaders in Myanmar, the Bush–Cheney Administration was slow to inform
the people, and slow to act during the crisis. Less known is that
President Bush refused innumerable offers of assistance to the people
of the Gulf Coast.

More than 20 countries—including Israel,
Mexico, China, England, and the Dominican Republic—quickly offered
humanitarian and financial assistance. President Bush's first response
was to tell the audience of ABC-TV's "Good Morning, America":

"I'm not expecting much from foreign nations because we hadn't asked
for it. I do expect a lot of sympathy and perhaps some will send cash
dollars. But this country's going to rise up and take care of it. . . .
You know, we would love help, but we're going to take care of our own
business as well, and there's no doubt in my mind we'll succeed."

Cuba, which has one of the best health care and disaster response
systems in the world, offered substantial medical supplies and 1,600
physicians, most of them specialists. Rejected.

Germany sent a military plane carrying 15 tons of emergency provisions. The United States denied it landing rights.

Not only did the federal government reject humanitarian offers from
other countries, it either rejected or ignored offers by the American
people and its own governmental agencies.

Before the storm hit, Amtrak offered trains to evacuate New Orleans. Ignored.

The Forest Service, shortly after Katrina came ashore, offered water-tanker aircraft to fight the fires. Ignored.

The Coast Guard, which would fly more than 20,000 rescue operations,
offered 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel to Jefferson Parrish. The federal
government refused to allow delivery.

The captain of an
amphibious assault ship off the Gulf Coast offered to send her sailors
onto land to help the people, have her helicopters assist in rescue
operations, provide as much as 100,000 gallons of drinkable water a
day, and open her ship's operating rooms to provide medical assistance
and 600 beds for the relief effort. The federal government ignored and
then delayed her offer.

During the first week of the disaster,
the federal government had ordered the Red Cross and Salvation Army not
to go into the New Orleans disaster zone, falsely citing a lack of
adequate security. Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico offered 400
National Guard soldiers the day the hurricane hit; however, they
weren't sent for four more days because of what Richardson called
"federal paperwork" that the Pentagon insisted had to first be
completed.

About 75 companies volunteered to use their own corporate aircraft to
ferry supplies into smaller local and regional airports. When the
federal government ignored the offer, the companies flew in more than
130,000 pounds of food and critical supplies, making determinations
without federal assistance or appreciation of where the needs were the
greatest.

Hundreds of companies tried to provide several
million gallons of drinking water and ice for the evacuees. The federal
government either blocked their delivery or routed them on a circuitous
path throughout the South, and never allowed them to unload their
cargoes. Members of the International Bottled Water Association did
provide 10 million bottles of fresh water for evacuees, but received no
assistance from the federal government, which refused to return several
phone calls.

A national corporation offered free
telecommunications equipment but the federal government rejected it,
according to Ern Blackwelder of the Business Executives for National
Security. Blackwelder told the Atlanta Journal–Constitution
that the government later contracted with the same company and paid for
equipment that had previously been offered at no charge.

About
a week after Katrina hit, the U.S. began accepting humanitarian aid,
but only from countries it determined were its allies.

Make
no mistake about it, the leaders of Myanmar are dictators who trample
human rights, have led their nation into an extended economic crisis,
and are interested only in keeping their own power. Almost a month
after Nargis hit the Irrawaddy Delta, the junta is now finally allowing
foreign aid, but not from the United States.

But also make no
mistake about this. The United States under its current administration
will continue to refuse humanitarian aid and personnel from Cuba,
Venezuela, and any other country that doesn't agree with the
Bush–Cheney politics.

Walter Brasch is professor of journalism at Bloomsburg University and
president of the Pennsylvania Press Club. He is the author of the
critically-acclaimed 'Unacceptable': The Federal Response to Hurricane Katrina (January 2006) and Sinking the Ship of State: The Presidency of George W. Bush (November 2007), both available through amazon.com, borders.com, and other bookstores. You may contact Brasch at brasch@bloomu.edu or through his website at: www.walterbrasch.com.